01-26-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELKVILLE - The Century Centurions recently competed in the Massac County Superman Classic, an event in which they went 1-2 with losses coming to perennial Kentucky powerhouse Paducah Tilghman and the host Patriots.

Both of those teams are much larger in enrollment and the reasoning behind playing these larger teams for the Centurions, according to head coach Ethan Stringer, is for his team and program to get better.

It only took a couple of days before this coach saw some of the benefit of this difficult slate of contests.

His club jumped all over host Elverado on Monday night, sprinting out to a 25-5 first quarter lead on their way to a dominating 70-44 win on the road.

Coach Stringer saw his team maintain a high level of play for most of the matchup, with the exception of a slight fourth quarter let down after having taken a 34-point lead, as the Centurions improved to 12-10 overall and 6-0 in the conference.

Five-foot-ten senior Caden Hight paced Century with 21-points as eight of Coach Stringer's kids produced ink for the book.

Hight broke the Superman Classic single-game scoring mark with 43-points in a win over Ft. Campbell (KY.) last week and he carried on his his hot shooting on Monday.

Collin Jones (12-points) and Malik Wesle-Hagler added a double-double with 10-points and 10-rebounds in the victory.

The Centurions were deadly from the field, hitting 28-of-51 overall (54.9 percent) in the win.

Century also was effective on the glass, commanding the boards 36-20 with 13-offensive rebounds.

“I felt like every game at the Superman Classic we got better. That was the goal to get better each game and we did that. I thought we came out and executed well in the first half tonight,” said Coach Stringer. “Overall it was a pretty good game for us. We are working toward getting better for the postseason.”

Elverado, who didn't play well at the beginning and fell too far behind to contend, saw its record slip to 0-4, 7-11 overall.

The Falcons never put together enough scoring runs to make a dent in the lead by Century at home on Monday night.

Coach Tim Davis' squad committed 15-turnovers and shot just 16-of-53 from the floor in the loss.

Elverado was just 7-of-29 from the 3-point line as many of those long rebounds ended up in the hands of the visitors.

The Falcons were led by 15-points from Sage Sarensen, a 6-foot sophomore guard who canned five 3-pointers in the game.

Teammates Tyler Funk and Luke Jones, both seniors, added 11 and 10-points for Elverado.

“That (falling behind) deflated us. We missed some shots tonight and on the other end we let them get second and third chances because our effort wasn't there and I'm disappointed with that,” said Coach Davis. “They are too good of a team to get behind like that and not play hard.”

Following a steal and fast break score by Hight, Sarensen gave Elverado its only lead of the night with his first 3-pointer.

His bucket from the top of the arc made it 3-2 Falcons with just over a minute gone in the first quarter.

Unfortunately for Elverado, that was the only highlight and made basket in the first eight minutes.

The Centurions scored the game's next 19-points with nearly everyone wearing Cardinal kicking in.

Hight scored six of these points on a pair of long 3-point shots with his first hitting the mark with 5:50 left.

Jones added a pair of drives to the goal for points and when Wesley-Hagler grabbed a defensive rebound and sprinted the length of the floor for a lay in, Coach Davis needed a timeout at 11-3 with 4:59 remaining.

Hight nailed his second trifecta soon after the timeout and Jones added a score on an inbounds play and a pair of free throws.

The streak ended after a drive down the baseline by senior Jeffrey Wright turned into a conventional three-point play and a 21-3 lead.

Funk stopped the run with a pair of free throws, however Century added to the advantage with a pair of buckets by Blake Crane, a 6-foot-1 senior, and Wesley-Hagler.

Crane got his basket on a drive down the middle of the lane and Hagler banked home a 15-footer for a 25-5 lead at the horn.

For the hosts, nine of those missed shots and five of those turnovers came in the opening minutes as the Falcons fell behind early.

In the second quarter, Elverado got baskets by Funk on the inside and another 3-point shot by Sarensen, but Century continued to pour in the points as defensively the Falcons were little more than a radar glitch.

The Centurions pulled further away in the second quarter and they scored the stanza's final five points in the last :39.

Hight padded the stat sheet with a fast break on an assist by Wesley-Hagler.

With just :08.9 left in the half, Wesley-Hagler was fouled and sent to the line.

He made his first of two free throws but when his second shot missed the mark, he managed to get his own rebound.

The junior guard got the ball to freshman Caden Hight who launched a 3-point attempt from the right corner.

Brother Caden grabbed the rebound for a score just before the buzzer, making it 41-14 at intermission.

The Centurions grabbed eight of their offensive rebounds in the second quarter alone and were in complete control at the break.

A lot of teams with this sort of a halftime spread would let up some in the third quarter.

The Centurions did not.

Century came out and hit their first four shots from the floor and added to the rout.

Starting the frame with an 8-3 run, Century got another 3-pointer from Caden Hight and drive to the basket by Jones.

Hight then added another steal and transition score.

A free throw from Crane made it 49-17 with 5:53 left.

Elverado finally got a bit of offense going in the third quarter.

Sarensen tossed home two more 3-point shots and Funk scored twice in the lane.

Century junior Dylan Lynn got in on the fun, scoring twice in succession on assists from Cason Hight to extend the lead.

Another fast break by Caden Hight, this time on a nice reverse lay in, pushed the lead to 59-32 at the end of three.

A 9-2 run to begin the fourth quarter removed the drama.

Century got more points with some others getting involved in the fun as five different Centurions scored in the final eight minutes.

Aaron Jones, a 5-foot-10 junior, scored on a fast-break lay in while Wright also hit a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Wesley-Hagler added another rebound and a put-back as the lead reached its highest point at 68-34 with 4:49 left.

Elverado's Jones scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter including a pair of shots late after Century had went to its bench.

Six of the Centurions' turnovers came in the final minutes with reserves on the floor.

Century plays at Vienna on Tuesday night in its next action while Elverado, in their first season in the South Egypt Conference, will travel to Egyptian on Friday.

“Those long rebounds off us missing 3's hurt us and we normally don't miss that many 3's,” said Coach Davis. “They are a good team and they all have pretty good basketball IQ's.”